April 28, 2017

What happened this week?

Chile.

1.      6.0 earthquake punctuates a sustained seismic swarm off Valparaíso, 30 km (18 mi) offshore of the major port city of Valparaiso, Chile. Santiago, Chile’s capital, lies another 100 km (60 mi) inland, where the largest quake was widely felt...Read more

2.      6.9 earthquake in Chile follows intense seismic swarm. This earthquake’s epicenter was offshore of the port city of Valparaiso, and occurred at a depth of 25 km according to both the USGS and EMS...Read more

Dominican Republic. 580 people are displaced and 47 sectors incommunicado due to the rains that affected this week the Dominican Republic, where 15 of the 32 provinces are on alert...Read more

Jamaica. Heavy, persistent rain caused by a trough in the vicinity of Jamaica over the weekend brought disaster to sections of south-east Clarendon Saturday...Read more

United States.

1.      A 3.5-magnitude earthquake shook extreme northwest Colorado on Saturday morning, alarming residents in the town of Rangely...Read more

2.      A Flash Flood Watch was issued for portions of southeastern Kentucky from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon...Read more

3.      Dozens of firefighters have spent Monday on the lookout for hot spots, after a fast moving wildfire burned through the Golden Gate Estates area over the weekend (Florida)...Read more

4.      The Sawmill Fire burning north of Sonoita is now estimated to be 18,000 acres in size and is expected to grow as strong winds grounded air tankers on Tuesday afternoon (Arizona)...Read more

Interesting Facts

Forest fires affect 3.9 thousand hectares in 2017 (Mexico). So far this year, 3,941 forest fires have been registered in 31 states of the country, which affected an area of ​​122 thousand hectares, according to the National Forest Commission (CONAFOR)...Read more

Oroville Dam: Disaster expert says spillway emergency ‘developed and propagated by DWR’. A disaster expert’s review of the Oroville Dam spillway emergency says the Department of Water Resources could have prevented everything with better design, better construction and better maintenance...Read more

Supercells: What to Know About These Dangerous Thunderstorms. The term supercell is used by meteorologists to describe a breed of long-lasting thunderstorms which rotate and are accompanied by dangerous weather conditions, including large hail, damaging winds and sometimes tornadoes...Read more

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

$350 Million in National Disaster Fund (Jamaica). The establishment of the Fund forms part of the requirements under the Disaster Risk Management Act which seeks to strengthen the country’s overall national disaster preparedness, emergency management and response processes and mechanisms, and reflects modern, strategic, administrative and legal approaches consistent with current best practices...Read more

 

How to Reduce Risk from Extreme Weather Events. Events such as the Colombia mudslide, the recent Peru floods which claimed 100 lives, and last October’s Hurricane Matthew in Haiti which caused over 600 deaths and US$2.7 billion of economic losses, highlight the need to address the underlying social and economic forces that place human settlements at risk...Read more

Mobile networks and natural disasters: How to prevent a second catastrophe? This global initiative seeks to strengthen access to communication and information for those affected by emergencies, helping to reduce loss of life and contribute positively to humanitarian response...Read more